Inflatable air-bag for life-preserving garments.



PATENTED MAR. 31, 1903.

H. KUHLMANN. I INFLATABLE AIR BAG FOR LIFE PRESERVING GARMBNTS.

. APPLIGATION FILED JULY 3. 1901.

N0 MODEL.

Hub wAsHmGToN n c To all whom it may concern.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HANSKUHLMANN, OF GROSS-SALZL, GERMANY.

INFLATABLE AIR-BAG FOR LIFE-PRESERVING GARMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part. of Letters Patent No. 723,883, dated March 31, 1903.

Application filed m 3, 1901.

I Be it known that I, HANS KUHLMANN, a subject of the King of Prussia, Emperor of Germany, and a resident of Gross-Salzl, near- Schonebeck-on-the-Elbe, in the Kingdom of Prussia,Germany, have invented an Improvement in Inflatable Air-Bags for Life-Preserving Garments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an inflatable airbag for life-preserving garments by which the garment is not substantially altered in cut, 850. In former life-preserving apparatus the principal drawback was that they werenot worn constantly or could not be, partly on account of being too heavy and partly because their inflated form disfigured the body.

By means of the present invention a lifepreserving apparatus is now provided which can be applied to any garment or portion of a garment without altering the external form thereof and without being in any way burdensome, so that every one may always have his preserver at hand, so as to be able to fearlessly trust himself to the waves.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1' shows a life preserving waistcoat. Fig. 2

illustrates an inflatable air-bag from the front. 7 Fig. 3 is a section on the line A B of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is the same as Fig. 3 when'the inner reservoir has been filled.

The waistcoat, which is illustrated'by Way of example in the drawings, shows one of the simplest forms of such a garment, though the waistcoat can be adapted to any fashion, without affecting the principle of the invention. Between the material 1 and the lining e of the waistcoat a there is a bag I), of rubber sheeting, made perfectly air and water tight.

Serial No. 67,037. (No model.)

This bag consists of two opposing walls, which are provided with vertical cor rugations c, which stiffen thebag, forming what might be called fstaysf The infla tion of the bag can be elfected by the wearer of the waistcoat by means of a tube f, which when not in use can be pushedinto the pocket 9.. The inflation can be eifected in about thirty seconds. Should the wearer of the waistcoat after'the inflation forget to close the air-valve, he would still be supported for about half an hour if lying face downward, as the tube is closed by the water.

As the bag is inside the quilted waistcoat, it cannot be damaged easily by wear, so that its duration is comparatively long.

The bag I) can be adapted to the shape of any garment without being inconvenient, which also enables it to be worn at night. In this manner much may be done to reassure passengers and many accidents prevented without any special trouble on the part of the passenger.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

An inflatable air-bag for safety-garments comprising a hollow body provided with reinforcinglongitudinal grooves c, which stiffen the sides of .the bag so that it is inflatedin a uniform 'mannerand, that the garment surrounding the bag is in no place deformed, substantially as described.

' In witnesswhereof'l have hereunto set my handin presence of two-witnesses.

HANS KUHLMANN. Witnesses: L. PALMER,

MAX GoRNEMANN. 

